


Flower Crowns and Coffeeshops

by thomasjeffersonsmacaroni



Series: The Other 51 [9]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Past Abuse, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 14:59:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9187244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thomasjeffersonsmacaroni/pseuds/thomasjeffersonsmacaroni
Summary: Sansa has been through too much hell for one person to take.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first GoT fic, please be kind even though this is terrible and it literally only satisfies my need for fic about my OTP and my need for 10 fics in January

"And how's college, Sans?"

Arya tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she stared at the screen of her laptop, raising her voice to be heard over the ruckus behind her.

"You should really stop bringing your friends over during our calls. I can barely hear over them." Even now, Sansa spoke at a noise above normal level, and she was grateful for the fact that she lived in a dorm without a roommate to tell her to shut up.

"You know my friends. They won't listen. How's college?"

"It's pretty good." Her grades were slipping, and so was she herself.

"Not much is happening." Nothing but Ramsay Bolton and Joffrey Baratheon and Petyr Baelish still walking through the streets, sending her into a panicked frenzy every time she saw either of them.

"Yeah, it's good. How's yours?" Arya had friends. She had recovered, or at least close to it, from the hell that they had lived in. She had friends, decent grades, a job, a _life._

For a rare moment in her life, Sansa wished for a roommate. Then she would at least have a built-in friend.

"Sansa, we're _sisters._ Don't you think I can't tell when you're lying?"

Arya's eyes widened in a strange mixture of concern and anger. "You can tell me, you know. I know we weren't always close, but I can tell. You _know_ I can tell."

Suddenly she paused. "It's Joff, isn't it?"

Sansa was forced to nod. Arya always knew what was wrong. "Him and Bolton. And Baelish."

Arya scowled. "How are they not in jail yet?"

Sansa shrugged. "The modern justice system, I guess. And the fact that I had no evidence."

"Say the word and I'll kill them. I _will,_ " she added when she saw Sansa's surprised expression.

She would. If Sansa was sure about anything, she was sure about that.

"Thanks, Ar. That made me feel better." And it did.

Suddenly, she heard a whining from the other side of the room and guessed that he dog Lady needed to be walked.

"I'll talk to you later. Stay in school, stay out of trouble, remember that there's no Netflix in prison."

"See ya. Don't forget that there's no Starbucks in hell."

Sansa gave her sister a final wave, then logged off of her computer, grabbed Lady's leash and collar, attached them to her, and left the dorm.

Thankfully, the route that she took was empty and acquaintance-less.

 

Walking Lady used to be relaxing.

It had been a comfort in her busy life, a source of consistency among everything hectic. And it had been nice to get a chance to breathe, to stretch her legs.

But then Ramsay Bolton had arrived, the thrilling finale to a series of abusive relationships. He hadn't gone to her college, but he had lived in the same town, so even after she pressed charges, and he was found innocent and she was demonized for falsely accusing an innocent boy, she saw him in the streets far too often.

He had lots of dogs. Lady didn't understand why she couldn't see them anymore.

 

Sansa realized upon reaching the dog park that, as usual, she wasn't the only one there.

There was a woman with what looked to be her daughter, and they were holding hands and smiling at each other. There was a college girl whom Sansa didn't know walking her Chihuahua and looking as if she had better things to do than be there.

And there was the silver boy.

That was what Sansa inwardly called him because of his white-silver hair which in no universe could possibly be natural. She didn't know his real name, but judging by the fact that she saw him on campus very rarely, his life, whatever it consisted of, was very distant from her own - mainly consisting of her major in political studies and her minor in theater - only intersecting in the simple act of dog-walking.

She saw him around, had even talked to him once or twice. He seemed like a nice boy, but so had Baratheon and Baelish and Bolton, and she wasn't going to let herself be fooled again.

He respected her wishes. Even now, she watched him look up at her and then move to the opposite side of the park.

 

Sansa had once told Arya about how her life had been like a knitted scarf, and how for every bad thing that happened to her - her father's wrongful execution, her mother and brother's murders, the triptych of abusive relationships that she had been put through - God cut a thread of that scarf, until there was nothing left but a small bundle of string, and there was no way that she could be tortured any more.

She underestimated His power. Maybe it was because of the faith that she had lost.

Or maybe it was because the devil was too strong. Certainly the body of Ramsay Bolton at night, when he and Sansa were the only two people in the dog park, was as good a body as any.

"Sansa! Long time no see!" he exclaimed in mock delight. "How've you been?"

_You lying, cheating whore...You're lucky you're still alive..._

Sansa shuddered, and when Bolton cocked an eyebrow playfully and looked at her for an explanation, she muttered something about the cold.

"I've been well, how are you?" she asked tersely. _Keep him happy, keep him happy..._

That had been the motto of their relationship. _Keep. Him. Happy._ Or he would hit her, beat her, shove her...

"Pretty fine. I got a new dog recently. A puppy. I named her Sansa, after you."

He leaned in to whisper, so close that she could smell his breath: a mixture of tobacco and alcohol and garlic, and it brought back dark memories of nights when both of them were alone in his bedroom.

"She reminds me of you. I hope she gets raped by one of the bigger ones."

Sansa's eyes widened. She needed to escape, she didn't care where, but she couldn't be around him much longer. She could run, of course, but neither she nor Lady were very fast runners, and the punishment for running away would be thousands of times worse than the punishment for staying.

She laughed nervously, hiding the deep inner breaths that she was taking to keep from screaming.

Bolton laughed too.

"You know I can rape you right now? Just because we broke up doesn't mean I can't touch you."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and was about to knock her down before both were interrupted by a voice.

"Hey!"

Sansa whirled around and instantly saw the silver boy, clutching the leash of his golden retriever.

"Sweetie pie! I was looking for you _everywhere!_ "

 _Is he talking to_ me?

He walked toward her quickly and hugged her. Hesitantly, Sansa hugged back, and then he whispered into her ear, "Play along."

 _Oh. He's_ helping _me._

"Sorry, love," she said back, voice gaining confidence with every word. "I had to walk Lady, and I forgot my phone in my dorm. Are we still on for date night?"

"Yeah. Chinese or Mexican?"

How had he guessed her two favorite types of food? "Chinese. We can get takeout and then watch a movie at your place."

"You are a woman after my own heart." He took her hands - it was surprisingly warm - and led her out of the park and towards the dorm, stopping once they were sure that they were out of Bolton's line of sight.

"Thank you for that," Sansa said, looking up at him. "That was my abusive ex-boyfriend. I didn't know whether I could get away."

"I could tell you were uncomfortable," the boy said with a smile. "I'm Aegon, by the way, and this is my dog Griff."

"I'm Sansa. Over here is my Lady." She held out her hand, and he shook it.

"It's lovely to meet you."

 

And Sansa thought that was the end of it.

But then the next morning, the silver boy - Aegon - showed up at her dorm room, holding his dog on his leash and a wallet in one hand.

"I found your dorm through the directory," he told her apologetically. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but would you like to walk my dog with me?"

"No, you're not intruding," Sansa said with a smile. "I mean, we _are_ dating, so..."

Aegon laughed. "Point taken. I'll wait right here for you."

Five minutes later, after Sansa had gotten changed, tied her hair into a manageable bun, and saddled Lady up, they began their walk to their usual park. At first they were silent, unsure what to say, as their only conversations had been awkward small talk and fake dating to get away from an abusive ex.

It was Aegon who finally spoke, asking a random question about her major. Neither of them were surprised.

"My major is political science," she told him, "and my minor is theater."

"So different," he commented.

"Well, yes. I would have pursued theater as my major, because I love it with a passion, but I didn't really see a future in it. I'm still studying it, though, only on a smaller scale. What's your major?"

"Oh, I'm undecided."

"Really?"

"Really. I couldn't decide for the life of me what I wanted to do, and I still can't. I'm sure I'll decide soon, but..."

"Mmm-hmm."

They talked for the entire hour that they walked their dogs, first small-talk-y things like Sansa's sister Arya and her antics and then more personal things, like how Aegon's entire family had been murdered when he was younger, and how much he wanted to find the killer but how he was too afraid of punishment.

"I'm so ashamed of myself, you know?" he explained as he cleaned up Griff's poop. "Like, I want the dickhole to die, because that was my _mother_ and my _sister,_ but I can't do it. I don't want to go to jail."

"Don't worry," said Sansa. "I feel the same way."

 

Days passed, then weeks, then months, and their friendship only grew and grew and grew. They shared a love of beautiful things and Starbucks, and it was the main thing that united them, other than the hells that they had been through, which they preferred not to talk about unless they needed to. They shared Starbucks trips, then dog-walking times, and then, under his concern for her loneliness, friends.

He had good friends. _She_ had good friends. Somehow, they made her feel better about having a single dorm. Somehow, they made her feel better in general.

And Aegon himself made her feel the best of all.

He was a great person to be around, and she would forever be grateful for that one darkened night when he had saved her. Which was why, when Margaery Tyrell and Arianne Martell teased her about their relationship, instead of laughing and denying it, she blushed and hid her face behind a throw pillow.

"Ask him out," Arianne said simply. "What's the worst that could happen? I'm pretty sure he's already head over heels for you."

Sansa shook her head. "Definitely not."

"Definitely so," Margaery protested. "Just do it already. Or I'll fight you."

"Okay, okay, fine. Tomorrow, I will."

The next day, when she got all of the words out more quickly than she had ever spoken in her life over frappuccinos and conversation, all that he said was "Yes."

But that was more than enough for the both of them.


End file.
